Chappel, One of the best things for the old game was when NEW users who were good at the game mentored and tutored other coaches in D3. Some of this was because it USED to be really difficult to get to good d1 programs, and many of us were bored silly waiting around. It was not uncommon in the old days to have to play 2 d3 teams b4 promo to d2, then two d2 teams b4 promo, then sometimes 3 but always 2 d1 teams b4 getting into a major conference, then one or two more promos to get to a high major school like Duke / Kentucky / UNC / UCLA etc. The only ones who made it to the top were the great ones.
That game is gone, not due to the Beta, that simply was the last nail in the coffin. The problem was the great ones stayed and liked it, and they were better than everyone else, so they never left. For that old game to exist, it needed two things, neither of which was on the table, tougher firing stds, or some sort of mandatory retirement / starting over. It's funny, I proposed the second thing a few months ago, and many of the same coaches who are unhappy now, were unhappy with that proposal. For me, I would view the being able to retire from a program as a badge of honor, kind of like getting to A+ prestige, even if it no longer helps one ridiculously win recruiting battles, it still symbolizes competence at the game. One coach really like Mich State, wouldn't it be cool to be the first coach to retire at Mich State, then start over in d3 and see if you can do it again?
My biggest issues with the new game are all the things chapel is saying is good about it, all the recruiting bells and whistles. I don't want to play a recuiting game (I sort of always have hated recruiting, other than when there were so many, it didn't matter who I got, I could win titles with all 40th ranked guys and my custom practice plans b4 potential. I want to play a SIM box score game, with my day to day in season game and team planning strategy to determine my results, not the way I recruit. I mean I understand the way I recruit is part of it, I simply don't want it to increase significantly.
The good news with the new game, it 'might' generate even enough teams, that the few team and game planning strategies that are left (cause most of them have been taken away, because the top coaches used to slaughter everyone else before target minutes and real practice planning in order to build teams got taken away) might let the 'best' team and game planning coaches have a pretty big edge. Based on what I saw in the Beta, I had a huge edge on most, and I did it with skipping one recruiting session completely, and only partaking in the 2nd session, which is really hard, in another. I didn't take over a remarkable team, but it was still a very good B+ one.
But I warn the coaches who think that the new HD will answer all their hopes and dreams to be a top coach in this game. Still, the ability to team build and game plan is what seperates the men from the boys. And as long as the game doesn't take away practice planning, roster setting, shot distro, and daily game planning, the top coaches are still going to win. Now wins might get pushed around in a more even manner, but none the less, unless you are top ten percent in game related skills, the soccer mom recruiting game is still not going to help you.